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The Military's UFC Feud: Union, Vets Want Sponsorship Axed [UPDATED]

A union committee of military veterans want the Marine Corps to nix their partnership with UFC.(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Update: This story has been updated to clarify the role of the Unite Here union in this petition, and to incorporate comments from UFC representatives.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has found itself pitted against a surprising new adversary: A war veteran’s committee who assert that UFC culture — in particular, they allege, a tacit acceptance of homophobic and sexist behavior and slurs — is an insult to the military’s guiding principles.

But the story isn’t so simple: The committee is one branch of the Unite Here union, an organization that’s spent more than a decade trying, without success, to unionize 13,000 employees at Las Vegas’ Stations Casinos — which are owned by the very brothers, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, who head up UFC.

UFC, a mixed martial arts promotions company founded in 1993, has since then made a steady crawl towards mainstream success. The company’s events, essentially caged knockout bouts meant to showcase the most effective techniques of unarmed combat (whether derived from boxing, karate or myriad other fighting disciplines), now fill major American stadiums and attract millions of TV viewers through a partnership with FOX Sports.

The company, and the sport it represents, have also attracted a dedicated military following. Several UFC fighters, including former Special Forces Staff Sergeant Tim Kennedy and Marine Corps’ Captain Brian Stann, are themselves veterans. UFC fighters often pay visits to military bases, and the armed forces now hold their own mixed martial arts competitions among soldiers. Some military leaders have even lauded UFC fights as a prime means of recruitment.

“Many of those [UFC] viewers are eligible recruits,” wrote Major Kelly Crigger in 2008. “The UFC provides a great venue to get the Army name into the minds of millions of young Americans.”

But the relationship between UFC and the military is now being spotlighted by the Unite Here committee: The group solicited 5,000 signatures (from war veterans, civilians and members of other advocacy groups) for a petition that was distributed to Marine Corps recruiting stations in seven cities last week. The petition’s request? That the Marines “renounce support of the UFC immediately.”

That support, according to the petition, runs taxpayers around $2 million each year. It’s the approximate sum that the Marines spend on commercials during televised UFC fights and on other promotional materials (like this joint UFC-Marines website that offers instructional videos on how to “train like elite warriors”). Money aside, petitioners say they’re also concerned that the military’s affiliation with the UFC sends a disturbing message to soldiers and civilians alike.

UFC representatives tell a very different story, namely that after years of unsuccessful unionization attempts at Palace Station casinos, the Unite Here union has taken to harassing the company’s leadership. “What’s happening with the Marine Corps is another example of this harassment,” Lawrence Epstein, UFC’s executive vice-president and general counsel, tells me. “I could give you a long list of the dirty tricks these guys have played.”

Whether or not this is another union ploy to indict UFC leadership, it has attracted the attention — and support — of at least one military advocacy group. “Why the Marines would turn around and support a group that so openly disparages women and gay people is beyond me,” Lory Manning, executive director of the Women in the Military Project and herself a retired Navy Captain, tells me. “The UFC community is completely out of line with Marine Corps mandate.”

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Why does the media continue to repeat this narrative that the phony outrage machine has generated? The bottom line is all this feigned anger over the Marine Corps’ support of the UFC has nothing to do with potty-mouthed fighters and everything to do with the fact that the Culinary Workers Union wants to cause trouble for the UFC’s owners (the Fertitta brothers) because their Station Casinos are not unionized. It’s pathetic that 99% of the stuff written about this doesn’t even mention that just maybe UNITE HERE has ulterior motives.

Wow… what a completely ridiculous and misinformed opinion this is. Lory Manning, executive director of the Women in the Military Project and herself a retired Navy Captain, took 2 quotes from Rashad Evans and Forrest Griffin and stereotypes the entire organization. Are you kidding me?? Can you possibly be more ignorant?? So are the Marines going to pull their sposorship from the NFL too (where I’m sure they spend 10x more advertising money)? That league is full of domestic violence convicts and other assorted criminals. Ish…. didn’t Ray Caruth kill his wife and stuff her in a car trunk? And this moron is going after the UFC??? Get a clue.

And what about the random marine that has been charge with a war crime or a domestic violence crime when he’s home? Does that say that the entire Marine Corps is a bunch of crazy killers or wife beaters?? I’d expect more intelligence and a lot less ignorance out of someone in such a high position.

Dave… that was the first thing I thought of too. There has to be an alterior motive here. I didn’t know about the union issue. If that is indeed the case, Lory Manning’s only making herself look like an uninformed fool using this as her cover argument.

I’m always ready to acknowledge a slip where one was made, and try my best to amend it. I reached out to UFC prior to publishing the story, but didn’t hear back until this evening. I’ve spoken to UFC reps and amended the story to reflect their comments and information about the role of Unite Here in the campaign.

Personally, I think the petition raises some important topics and problems — ones that the UFC, to their credit, seems ready to acknowledge and try to tackle. Union involvement or not, I think both sides agree that homophobic, sexist and other derogatory comments have no role in athletics (UFC or otherwise). Thank you for reading.